Pandatone: Lemons & Limes
Neo Ouija

Pandatone's Lemons and Limes suggests that New Yorker Trevor Sias's name should be added to the ever-growing list of folktronica artists. His eleven-track debut exudes a similar kind of guitar-based hazy ambiance, for instance, to that heard on Joshua Treble's Five Points Fincastle and aMute's A Hundred Dry Trees. Xela's Tangled Wool serves as an additional reference point, unlike Four Tet's Rounds which is much more propulsive and powerful in comparison to Pandatone's becalmed sound. Unfortunately, Lemons and Limes pales next to these four releases on numerous counts. Firstly, Pandatone's sound isn't fresh or original, even though the general style it partakes in is relatively new; still, there's nothing on it that hasn't already been heard better elsewhere. Secondly, Sias's album is melodically inferior to Tangled Wool, to use one example; Xela's gorgeous compositions flirt with transcendence whereas those on Lemons and Limes are merely serviceable, with the singing, chiming melodies in “before you left” a rare exception.

Pandatone bookends the disc underwhelmingly with a glitchy prelude that pairs acoustic guitars with phased drum stumbles and an undistinguished outro of meandering noises. In between nine tracks of varying character appear, of which a small number stand out. The rapid, dancing piano patterns in “go f7,” the keyboard modified to sound like a submerged marimba, stylistically recall the minimalistic style of Steve Reich. Better still is “toshiba sounds,” a sonic oasis whose bucolic acoustic strums and soft electronic tones are suitably paradisical. The expansively arranged “shelfed” is notable for its (presumably) simulated woodwinds and brass, and “broadwalk” memorably alternates some rather twee recorder tones with fleeting shoegazing guitars. Aside from these highlights, however, there's little else to get overly excited about with the remaining tracks unmemorable variations on the template of glitchy guitars, whirring electronics, and clicking beats. While Lemons and Limes is certainly legitimate in terms of its sound, it's ultimately undermined by the overall weakness of its material.

September 2004